Tethered // Teen Wolf // Isaac Lahey

NINETY-FOUR

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KOREY

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"I cannot believe that after being stalked by possessed people, forced into horrific nightmares and coating the entire apartment in mountain ash, I have to do homework." I complained, throwing myself back against the pillows on my bed.

"It's adorable that you think you're doing the homework," Isaac snorted, scanning through his chemistry textbook for answers.

"I do your math and French work for you," I protested, glancing down at him through my lashes, "it's only fair you do my chem work."

 "I don't mind doing it," he laughed softly, shaking his head as he met my gaze, "I just don't know how you expect to pass if you don't even want to look at the textbook."

"So I don't pass," I shrugged, clasping my hands over my stomach, "big deal."

"Why do it at all then?" Isaac brought back the subject he'd tried to find answers to a bunch of times already.

Except this didn't feel like a night where I wanted to run from things; the things that had been so big before now seemed so impossibly small. What was the point of hiding the worst moments of my life if new, even worse moments would appear later on?

"Because I absolutely hate it," I stated simply, "I hate chemistry. It's the most dull, stupid subject in the world, and no one can ruin it for me because I already hate it."

Isaac's smile dimmed slowly, a sort of understanding forming in his eyes, "Is that why you quit art? Because Pittore ruined it for you?"

"He chained me up in a sewar tunnel and painted me while draining my blood," I blurted out flatly. "I think that can ruin a lot of things."

Isaac quickly scrambled to push our homework and books aside before he laid down beside me, a hint of nervousness on his face. He wasn't used to me being open, I realised.

"What did you see?" I asked quietly, staring up at the plastic stars on my ceiling, "When you were in the mindscape, what did you see?"

Isaac reached out for my hand carefully, his fingers slipping between mine as his heart jolted, "I... saw my dad. I saw the freezer... got locked in."

I shifted to turn onto my side so I could set my hand against his cheek, my chest squeezing slightly as I recalled the stories he'd told me. "Are you okay? I never asked..."

His hand covered mine, and he moved it down so he could kiss the palm before he set it back on his cheek. "I am. I know it isn't real." He hesitated, his hold on my hand tightening, "What about you? What did you see? Was it the vampires or... was it something else?"

I knew he wanted to know what my life was like before I'd become a werewolf. He'd asked about it before, not directly but obviously. I'd always dodged the subject because I'd been afraid. Always afraid and of what? Something worse could always happen, so why was I keeping my past so sacredly hidden?

"I thought it would be my dad," I said plainly, looking down so I could focus on his chest inside of his eyes. "He was always the nightmare in my life before, but I guess he just doesn't compare to cannulas and metal rods laced with wolfsbane." I was ripping off the band-aid.

Isaac seemed to almost be holding his breath, his face hopeful in a way, as if he was praying that this time I would actually trust him enough to be honest. It wasn't about trust. It was always about fear, but there was only so much fear one could hold before it spilt out.

"You know my mom walked out on me when I was six," I revealed, "she was drunk, she always was drunk, but that night she was extra drunk and she got into a fight with my dad. I was hiding under the bed."